Thomas,

Faragut SR Class of 2023.

By virtue of his excellency in golfing,

Accepted to the U of R 

University of Rochester golf team.

There are too many "firsts" in him.

First NCAA Golf Program Applicant!

First University of Rochester ED Admission!

The firstgraduate to be named to the Rochester golf team!

The first Tianjin’er to win this award!

Content provided by: Thomas, Thomas’s Mother, Eileen Ma

General editing: Lu

Traslated by Naisi

1. No. 3 National Amateur Golf Tour 2023

2. No. 1 Beijing Qionggui Junior Golf Open 2023

3. 2022 Hurricane Junior Tour Notre Dame 2

4. No. 1 in 2022 Tianjin Junior Tour

5. 2021 PGA Junior Series No.3 in Qinhuangdao

6. 2021 PGA Junior Series No. 2 in Shanghai

7. 2021 PGA Junior Series No.3 in Beijing

8. GAC China Amateur Open 2021 No.3

9. GAC China Amateur Open 2021 No.5

10.2021 Representing Shanxi Team in the National Golf Championship (Huangshan)

These are some of the awards I got in high school. It is also the quickest way to get to know me: as an international high school graduate who plays golf.

When it comes to golfing, I want to talk about this first.

Because many people who have not experienced this sport will sincerely ask: is golf a sport?

It's true that most sports are as confrontational as basketball or football. But I would say that it's a stereotype. Like all sports, golfers need a lot of physical training to ensure muscle stability. In the official game, golf balls can reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. This means that my entire training process was equally long and arduous.

Over the years I have played on a variety of courses: some by the sea, some in the mountains, some in the city, and even some in the desert. In the course, I have encountered squirrels, crocodiles, deer, snakes. I also have experienced the most annoying mosquitoes, sun burnt skin, cold rain and high-speed winds.

With the gradual deepening of training, I feel that I don't need to be excited all the time in the competition. Instead, I need to find a balance point. I can't be too excited when the wind is going well, as it would create false expectations in my mind. Similarly, I can’t get upset when facing setbacks to avoid tendency to give up.

Only by finding an emotional balance can the game works best.

As I said before, I started playing golf when I was 10 years old, when I was still in public school. At that time, teachers didn't understand why my parents would let me play the game. When I was a kid, I never dared to tell people that I played golf for fear that they would look at me differently.

My story with Farragut began in the conference room on the fourth floor of the school. It was my first interview in my life. I recall that Principal Yang and Principal Zhou sat across from me. When I introduced myself and mentioned that I played golf, Principal Yang was not surprised. He was glad to hear my golf story. Seeing how interested he was, I let my guard down and asked him about his work at the UN.

During the 3 years of high school, the teachers took good care of me. I often had to ask for leave for competitions, and I always missed some courses. The teachers were very willing to give me lessons after I finished the competition.

Of course, the students are very enthusiastic, especially Max, another outstanding graduate of our school. During the preparation for the AP Chemistry exam, I always asked him questions. He would take the initiative to call me when I encountered a problem. I was very grateful of him.

After learning that Thomas is good at golf and wants to use it in a college application, the first key point we identified was the type of application.

After learning that he wanted to apply for college as an athlete, we first sort out the NCAA men's Golfball team ranking. On the one hand, we began school research with student and on the other hand, he started to send golf record to coaches, communicate with the coaches, and make the final decision after receiving feedbacks.

In the whole process, we as counselors are here not only to help students dig out the highlights of the athletes themselves, but also to guide him to participate in or organize a series of activities around golf. For example, Thomas was introduced to opportunities to organize promotional events for golf and programs to care for the mental health of young athletes.

When it comes to the most difficult part of the application process, I have to say that is the inability to play abroad due to the epidemic. Fortunately, we adjusted our strategy in time to participate in as many domestic competitions as possible. He also explained the situation when communicating with the coach, and visited the school as soon as the epidemic situation improved.

In the course of school research, we used various types of websites to help students match schools and often used the CDS system for analysis.

Fortunately, Thomas did not delay his academic performance because of golf, and his GPA and other academic results are very good.

To sum up, people oftent think that student athletes only need to excel in their area of sports. This is not completely true. 

School may not expect AP scores from student athletes, but they do need to show a sufficient level of academic standing.

Family plays an important role in helping your child become a good amateur golfer.

Every great golfer around me has had the chance to play golf when he was a kid. Thomas got into golf and loved it because of my personal experience working in golf clubs.

When I introduced him to the game, I remember how quickly he fell in love with golf, and only when children spontaneously fall in love with a sport can they persist for decades without giving up.

When many of the kids who train with Thomas gradually give up, I can feel how meaningful Thomas's persistence is.

There is no chance of success if you don't love golf from the bottom of your heart and really integrate golf into your life.

Thomas insists that it's not all smooth sailing. Especially before the age of 15, he was small and thin, and the strength of the competition was obviously inferior, and the results have been affected. He would get defeated when losing games.

As a parent, we hesitated whether to let him continue to engage in the sport, but he did not retreat because of the unsatisfactory results of the competition. Instead, he worked harder to train harder, so we could not bear to dispel his enthusiasm.

Parents, children and coaches work together to support him. Sure enough, after the age of 16, his body grew rapidly and he started to win in many national competitions.

Thomas has studied with coach Li Xing for seven years and has never switched coach. This is extremely rare in the country. Thomas grew from a 11 years-old child to a 15 years-old rebellious youth, then to today's 18 years-old adult. Coach Li Xing played a key role, affecting the child's dedication and pursuit of golf.

Coach taught Thomas extremely subtle technical movements, game mentality, golf character in the process of playing, etiquette of playing, and professional demeanor. All of these are now part of Thomas’s life. Today, Coach Li Xing is still his most loyal listener and sharer. He is not only a mentor, but also a close friend.

There is a misconception that student athletes or international school students have low academic standard.

The three years at Farragut are in fact highly intense. Thomas’ time are split between golf practice as well as fulfilling academic requirements. When other students get to take a break on Saturdays, holidays, or winter and summer holidays, Thomas spent his time in training and competitions. He is still on the court even on Chinese New Year.

Therefore, our goal in golf is to enter American college golf team and our our goal in academics is to enter top 50 schools in the US.

Fortunately, there are many role models who have entered the golf team of famous universities in the United States. With the attention and encouragement from Principal Yang, Thomas was able to achieve his goal under pressure and motivation.

Today, high school is over, but a new challenge is about to begin: golf team practice, tournaments, and college classes.

Faced with an important stage of success in life, Thomas shows maturity beyond his years. At the end of the interview, he shared his experience with students who are also willing to apply for overseas universities through sports.

"Success is not accidental. Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared, whether they are student-athletes or regular academic applicants. Golf is an individual sport, but the school team is a team, so I'm looking forward to the chemistry.

“ The future is always changing, and many things are unpredictable.

“But no matter how the future trajectory will change, I will follow a rule: always pursue my passion, not the trend. “